Challenging Alexis: Will's POV
by Luce17
Summary: Will's POV of Challenging Alexis.
1. Chapter 1

I'd been counting down the days to this year's conference for months. I was convinced that I'd meet my soulfinder this year-I could feel it in my bones. I had to meet her. I was now the last remaining single Benedict brother and I was desperate to change that. I'd dated a lot of girls in college, and had a bit of a reputation on campus for being a player. Age, however, had come coupled with maturity, and although I didn't regret my former lothario status, I was ready to move on.

As the organisers of the convention we'd flown to Paris a week early to prepare. When I say we I mean all of the Benedict clan. Yes, all 16 of us: my parents; Trace, Diamond and their 3 month old daughter Delilah; Uriel and his fiancé Tess, who'd met at last year's convention. Tess was able to meld metal- bending even the toughest piece of lead with ease. Her talent made her formidable- not even Alcatraz would be able to constrain her. It was odd, though- her shy disposition gave you no inclination as to the power she possessed, but she suited Uriel perfectly. He'd dropped to one knee, just a minute after talking to her at the convention, pledging to love her forever when he'd only talked to her for 60 seconds. It was pathetic. Politely, Tess had turned him down- asking to get to know him for a bit before committing to marriage, and Uriel had grudgingly admitted, embarrassed, that it had perhaps been a bit too soon. So, he did it again an hour later. Needless to say, it was third time lucky for Uri when he popped the question six months after their initial meeting. He'd wanted to do it much earlier, but his confidence had taken too much of a bruising, and it had taken him that long to pluck up the courage. Next, there was Victor and his soulfinder, and now wife Aurora. I took great pleasure in calling her 'Aurora Borealis' at every available opportunity- something that she really didn't find as amusing as I did. Rory, as she liked to be known, had been a sniper in the American army, which meant that sometimes even I was scared of teasing her. You didn't really want to annoy someone who could easily kill you from half a mile away without even blinking. Rory was an incredibly powerful telekinetic, something that she used to her full advantage whenever I wound her up. Needless to say, I'd developed incredibly quick reflexes as a result. Rory and Vic had recently eloped without telling any of us, and were still on the receiving end of my Mother's wrath, after she learned that she had been cheated out of her third son's wedding. It was rather hilarious to watch big, mean Vic who interviewed terrorists for a living, turn into a cowering wreck when he had to admit to his pint-sized mother what he'd done. Thankfully, Dad had managed to calm her down before she'd inflicted too much damage. Then, there was me, the fourth brother and currently, the only Benedict brother without a soulfinder. Xav, the medical student and his soulfinder Crystal came next, along with my genius of a younger brother and his wife Phee. Phee and Yves were as loved up as ever, and were currently still studying at college. Well, that's what they told us. I was somewhat doubtful that very much studying got done when they were sharing a flat together away from my parents' watchful eyes. Rounding up the group was my youngest brother, Zed, and his tiny little soulfinder Sky.

As we'd needed nearly twenty rooms between us (Mom refused to let any of the unmarried soulfinders share a room) regardless of the fact that it was no secret what they all got up to behind closed doors. Or, in the kitchen, as I'd unfortunately discovered when I'd come home for an unexpected visit and found Sky and Zed at it in the kitchen while my parents were out. I couldn't look at either of them for weeks, and I don't ever want to eat at that table again. To solve the room dilemma Yves, without us knowing, had booked out the whole top floor of the L'hôtel de Noailles. It was the perfect solution as it meant that we all got our privacy, and there was enough room for all of us. Not that Crystal, Tess and Sky had actually stayed in their rooms per my Mom's demands. Xav, Uriel and Zed all looked far too satisfied for anyone to believe that the soulfinders had stayed apart for the week. I'd managed to bag a room, with a spare room next to it. The rooms were connected by an interconnecting, internal door. Hopefully, that room would be inhabited soon. I knew when I found my soulfinder that I wouldn't want to be separated from her immediately. It would be miraculous that we found one another, and I wasn't about to let her run off. I didn't want to be presumptuous, and make us both move into my room, and I didn't want to push her into anything- she deserved better than that. Therefore, this was the best solution. We would be close- within metres of each other, but not uncomfortably close. Well, at least not to start with.

Right now the whole family was crammed into one of the function rooms that Yves had booked for the week. Scattered across the long business table were all the ID photos that the savants attending tomorrow had provided. I'd been bugging Crystal all week about the whereabouts of my soulfinder. She'd kept quiet at first- refusing to give me any details, but, after days of begging she'd finally cracked earlier today, and told me, begrudgingly, that she could sense that she had arrived in Paris this morning. My grin was so big that it nearly split my face in two. I'd walked around on cloud nine for the rest of the day- not even Delilah throwing up on me when I'd held her had been able to dampen my mood. I mean, the convention was to take place the next day- she surely couldn't have come to Paris with any other intention, but attend, could she?

We'd been poring over the photographs all week- helping Crystal to arrange the order of the circle to maximise possible matches, and minimise the time it took the savants to find them. Over the last few years she'd managed to hone her skill, so that now, just by looking at savants' photographs, she could narrow down the possible soulfinders for a particular savant. The actual matching and mind-linking part of the day could go on for hours, so anything Crystal could do to minimise the time was fantastic.

Ever since I'd learnt that my soulfinder was in Paris I'd been gazing at the photographs of all the girls my age. I was pretty sure I'd memorised them all by now, but I had a sneaking suspicion that Crystal had removed some of the most likely candidates, insisting that it was best for me not to have seen my soulfinder before I'd met her in real life- she didn't want me forming any ideas about her. Still, I persisted. I'd been holding up photos for her to inspect all day, and she was becoming increasingly annoyed with me.

"Is this her?" I asked eagerly, holding up a photograph of a pretty blonde from Luxembourg.

"I'm not saying anything to you, Will" Crystal replied- not even looking up from the photographs she was carefully moving into the most appropriate order. I pushed another one under her nose.

"What about her? Is it her?" I waved the photo around in front of her face, disrupting whatever order she'd so diligently decided on. She snatched the photo from my hand and put it back in its rightful place.

"Will, I am not talking to you about this. I don't want you to get your hopes up, and then not find her tomorrow. Besides, you've already waited a year for this opportunity to come round again- another 24 hours isn't going to kill you. Now, stop messing up the order of the circle, and let me finish this in peace!" Xav looked at me reprovingly.

"You tell him, Cupcake!" he said gleefully. "Come on, I'll take you to the bar. It's probably best you forget about this for a while." He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and practically dragged me out of the room


	2. Chapter 2

Nursing what had to be my fourth pint of the afternoon I continued to watch the 'Tour de France' on the plasma TV screen in the bar. Bike racing wasn't my favourite sport, but it was better than talking to Xav, who was only interested in discussing how he should propose to Crystal.

"So, I was thinking that I could ask her at the top of the Eiffel tower. I could get Zed to come up with us and he could get a photo of me asking her! Or, do you think that would be too tacky?"

"No, that sounds great." I replied, not taking my eyes off the screen.

"Or-" he continued. "I could take her for a picnic on the banks of the Seine, and put the ring in a cupcake. Although, I'd have to be careful she didn't eat it…"

"That sounds good too" I say, totally engrossed by the massive crash on the screen that' s just knocked out nearly ten of the riders.

"Maye I should take her to a mortuary and I could propose to her amongst the rotting corpses with a Haribo ring. I mean, if that doesn't scream romance, then I don't know what does!"

"Yeah, that would be-" and then his words registered. "Wait, what the f*** Xav? That's disgusting, man!" I turn quickly to look in disgust at my brother who's looking at me with much amusement.

"I knew you weren't listening."

"Right. Sorry" I say abashed. I didn't realise that my lack of attention was that obvious.

"It's just that I've got a lot on my mind." He nods in understanding, and we lapse back into a comfortable silence. I drain the last of my beer.

"Another one?" I ask, raising my bottle to demonstrate my question. He nods in reply.

"Go on then." Grabbing the empty bottles I head for the bar, and order another couple of ciders.

It's then that I felt it. A sort of, pleasant tingling at the nape of my neck- it gets stronger the longer I stand at the bar. I feel a sudden urge to move- to move towards the source of the sensation. Curious, I allow my body to move of its own accord and find myself in the hotel's reception. I can hear Xav yelling at me to stop, to ask me what on earth I'm doing. I don't acknowledge him. Instead, my eye catches sight of a girl in the elevator. She's not looking at me, but I know it's her. Suddenly the tingling makes sense!

I start running. I don't know if I'm going to make it in time- the doors are just about to close. I push myself faster, sprinting across the lobby. 'I've got to make it. I've got to make' I chant to myself, urging myself to run faster.

"Stop! Hold the elevator!" My feet pound on the tiles, but I'm just not fast enough- the doors are beginning to slide shut. I get there a few seconds after they've closed, and I pound on the doors in frustration.

"God damnit!" I growl. The anger had evaporated, and I was left with a feeling of bitter disappointment. My soulfinder had been metres- mere metres away from me, and I'd let her slip through my grasp.

"What the f*** was that about, Will?" he asked, running a hand through his hair in a futile attempt to tame it.

"That" I say "was my soulfinder."

"Congrats bro!" he exclaims, thumping my back in excitement. "She's definitely gonna be there tomorrow then- we're as close to the convention as you can get."

"You think?" I ask, hopeful.

"Bro, when have I ever been wrong before? It's your last night as a single man!" I beam broadly.

"Yeah." I reply confidently. "Tomorrow I'm gonna meet her." We walk up to our floor together, elated- I couldn't wait to tell the rest of my family of my good news. Tomorrow was the start of the rest of my life, and I couldn't wait!


	3. Chapter 3

Returning back to my hotel room I was too excited to sleep. I could sense her. She was right here in this hotel! It was all I could do to stop myself from tearing through the hotel, and knocking on each door until I found her. I just wanted to hold her in my arms, love her, protect her, and never let her go. 24 years had been more than enough time to go without her.

When Xav and I returned from the bar, the whole family had thrown a mini celebratory party in my honour. I'd beamed broadly throughout. Everyone retired to their rooms at about nine because we had a very early start tomorrow. Because we organised the convention we were responsible for setting up the matching room, which meant we had well over a few thousand tables and chairs to shift into the appropriate position before the doors of the convention opened. We only had access to the room on the day of the event, so all organising had to be done in the early hours. Thankfully, we had an army of volunteers to help us, but the 4am start to be there by 5am was still way too early for anyone to be awake. Despite the fact that I knew I had only a maximum of 6 hours sleep before my alarm would sound, I just couldn't sleep. I was far too excited. It was like being a child on Christmas Eve once again- I just couldn't drop off.

To occupy my mind I decided to plan my outfit for tomorrow. I didn't want to be rifling through my wardrobe in the early hours, so it was best to get it sorted now. Besides, it might make me fall asleep- the sooner I slept, the sooner morning would come. Pulling open my wardrobe I observed the items that I'd brought with me. In true Will style I'd simply shoved into my case whatever was clean, which meant that I was now left with a series of mismatched items. Great. I wasn't exactly going for the hobo-chique look, and I wasn't convinced that it would make for the best first impression with my soulfinder. I had meant to put a lot of thought into what clothing I brought with me, but I'd been so busy with work that it had been put on the backburner. I'd set up my own security firm a couple of years ago when I'd left college. I hadn't wanted to go into the family business, and so far the risky venture was paying off- business was booming. Well, being able to sense danger was certainly an advantage in my line of work. Still, it was stressful being the man in charge of 'Benedict Security'.

Sighing, I skimmed through the few articles of clothing that I'd brought with me. I had a couple of pairs of jeans, some wrinkled T-shirts, and a couple of long-sleeved shirts. Not exactly the best raw materials to be working with. Grabbing a couple of items I tried to put together a sensible outfit. Twenty minutes later, and I still hadn't come up with anything that looked remotely wearable. Sighing, I cursed myself- why the hell hadn't I thought of this earlier! I could have gone shopping in Paris for clothes- it was supposed to be one of the fashion capitals of the world, and I'd been here a week. Crystal had been in heaven here- as a fashion student she loved the vibrancy of the city, and the new, innovative designs that were on display in shop windows. Wait- that's it! I could get Crystal to select my outfit! The benefits of my brother having a fashionista for a soulfinder! Well, and the fact that she was helping me to find my soulfinder. Yipping with delight I ran off to Xav's room, bypassing where Crystal was supposed to be sleeping- we all knew that that bed had not been slept in all week, despite what Mom insisted.

Barging into Xav's room, and turning on the lights I was met by the sight of Xav and Crystal fast asleep in Xav's bed.

"Crystal, Crystal- you've got to help me! It's an emergency!" she shot up, wiping her eyes blearily. Xav burrowed his head in his pillow.

"Turn of the f**king lights, Will- we're trying to go to sleep."

"But this is an emergency, Xav. Crystal- I need you to help me find my outfit for tomorrow."

"That does not constitute an emergency, Will!" Crystal shrieked, slumping back onto her pillow, and snuggling closer to Xav.

"I'll tell Mum that you and Xav have been sharing a room."

"You wouldn't?" she asked murderously. I quirked an eyebrow- a silent 'Try me'. She growled in response, yanking off the covers and storming past me into my room. Xav grumbled in response, cocooning himself in the duvet.

"Thanks, Will-she is going to be mega pissed now." I didn't answer him, instead happily following Crystal to my room.

Walking into my room I saw Crystal sorting through the clothes that were now strewn all across my floor. Sighing she grabbed a plaid check shirt, my dark jeans and my timberlands.

"You don't have a white top to go under this, but Xav's got one so you can wear his. Leave the shirt unbuttoned, and wear the timberlands. You'll be fine." She turned, walking determinedly back to Xav's room. I followed diligently.

Rummaging through a chest of drawers, she pulled out a form- fitting T-shirt. I was burlier than Xav, but as we were nearly the same height it would fit me just fine. She shoved it into my arms and pushed me out of the door.

"Right Will, you're sorted. Do not bother me again, and don't even think about waking Zed up to ask about how you should style your hair. Goodnight, Will." And with that, she slammed the door in my face. I grinned happily. Well, she hadn't killed me, so that was a bonus. I was ready. Only a few more hours to wait now!

 **Please leave a review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed! This is only a short update, and for that I'm sorry, but I thought it best to give you something to read!**

 **I've decided that I'm not going to update this fic until I've finished 'Challenging Alexis'. This is because I have so much still to write for CA, that it's going to be a real struggle to complete, and I want to focus on that so as to finally complete it this summer, as I know I won't have the time in the future. I feel that it would be better to give you a complete story even if it's just from Alexis' POV, than to have two half completed versions. I'm also finding it really difficult to write Will's POV when I'm so used to writing in Alexis', something that I didn't struggle with when I first wrote these chapters. For these reasons, I've decided to finish CA before looking at this again. I hope that you continue to enjoy Challenging Alexis (if you read it), and don't hate me too much! I will update this when I've completed CA, so please don't give up on it. Thanks x**

 **Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter. It's short, but I wanted to get an update out, and it gives you some more information about Will. Enjoy!**

Chapter Four:

I hadn't been able to sleep, no matter how much I tried; I was far too excited. All I could think about was the girl in the lift; I hadn't managed to make out her face. All I could remember seeing was a mass of curly brown hair, and a pair of piercing hazel eyes looking back at me. I kept walking into the room connected to mine, imagining her in here- the two of us together at long last. Yes, I was a bit obsessed, but it was hard being in a family that had all found their soulfinders. I just wanted what they had. That wasn't so odd, was it?

Crystal had managed to finalise the seat order this afternoon, although hadn't allowed me to look at it; she didn't want me getting any ideas. The stack of ordered photographs was sat on the table in the lounge area. I was desperate to go and pour over them, looking for the girls my age, but Crystal said that if I did look, and Mum, Uri and Zed would know if I did, then she wouldn't help me find my soulfinder if I didn't find her tomorrow. The temptation was great, but it wasn't that great. Although I knew she'd never carry out such a threat, I still didn't want to take the risk. Besides, I think I'd already annoyed her enough.

Accepting that I was to suffer from insomnia tonight, I decided to do something, and so sat looking over the security details for the convention. I was in charge of security, and it had been my company that helped put the measures in place. Although we didn't usually cater for savants, I made a special exception for my family. It was my company that securely stored all the files for the Net, but it was my family and other trusted savants that helped out with the physical security at a soulfinder convention. Back home, the company employed regular bodyguards for regular events, but they wouldn't be much use in an environment like this; they'd be way out of their depth.

I'd set up the company after I'd graduated from college with my college roommate, Tom. We'd both shared a common interest in computing, and were doing very similar courses. I'd always been good with technology, hacking in particular; I could hack into almost anything, but when the two of us teamed up we were unstoppable. Since hacking didn't exactly prove to be the best legal career path, we decided to put our talents to good use, and set up a company preventing hackers like us from getting into a system that we devised. Our system was impenetrable. So, from our college dorm room, our business was born. We called ourselves 'Benedict Security' initially as Tom's surname 'Vestergaard- Klaus' didn't exactly make for a snappy brand name when tagged on with mine, but few knew that that was the original name of the company. Instead, we became known as 'TBS', standing for 'Thomas Benedict Security', although Tom and I always thought of it as 'Benedict Security'.

It wasn't just cyber security we dealt with though, there was physical security too, and with my gift for sensing danger I could sense a problem before it even took root, something Tom put down to pure luck. I'd managed to foil potential terrorist plots at global foundations before the perpetrators even got into the building. As a result of our hard work and my savant power the company had grown rapidly since we'd set it up and was now a widely recognised brand in America.

In order to remain low-key, I was never seen as the joint CEO of the company. I couldn't risk my name being seen publicly as it would cause too many problems for the Net; savants had to remain below the radar. In order for me to remain out of the limelight Tom became the face of the brand. The general public presumed he was 'Tom Benedict'- the sole creator of the company and only CEO, which suited both of us just fine. Tom loved the publicity that came with his position- the pretty girls that flocked to him at every opportunity meant that he could make the most of his bachelor status, whilst I got to remain anonymous. Most of our employees at our head office in Denver didn't even realise who I was, which was exactly how I liked it.

Our next, somewhat ambitious task, was to expand into Europe, which meant I was travelling a lot. It made sense, as Tom needed to stay behind to publicise us and manage matters in the states, but also meant I was away from my family. It wasn't all Tom's fault, though. Being the only single man when driving home for a family dinner in a house full of happy soulfinders meant going home to my apartment in the city was even lonelier, and travel provided me the escape I often needed.

The security for the convention I'd devised myself, using close family and friends to act as the controls. It never hurt to be too cautious- I didn't trust many savants after our run-ins with the Net. We had too many enemies to count. This left only a few savants with suitable gifts to act as security. Each visitor was to pass through a series of stations before they were allowed into the convention in order to prove they weren't a threat. We had danger sensers, like Dad and I; truth-seers like Sky, and those who could see the future like Mum and Zed. We'd used all the trusted savants we could find to set up such security, as well as putting traditional security measures, like x-ray scanners in place. Hopefully it would be enough to make the convention run safely- it had worked for all our previous conventions, so I was hoping this one would run smoothly too, especially now I was convinced that my soulfinder would be attending.

Deciding that I'd spent enough time watching the clock tick, I got up and showered. Hopefully it would make me look less tired and more awake for when I met my soulfinder. Styling my hair carefully and wearing the outfit Crystal had picked out for me especially, I sat watching some crappy television while I waited for my alarm to ring. Today's convention couldn't come soon enough!


End file.
